Students’ perception on e-learning with regard to online value added courses

This paper attempts to study the perception of learners of value added courses that were offered to students.

Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/ijm/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=11&IType=3

Journal Impact Factor (2020): 10.1471 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com

ISSN Print: 0976-6502 and ISSN Online: 0976-6510

© IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON

E-LEARNING WITH REGARD TO ONLINE

VALUE ADDED COURSES

P Kalyanasundaram

Research Scholar, Department of Business Administration, Annamalai University, India

Dr C Madhavi

Professor, Department of Business Administration, Annamalai University, India

ABSTRACT

With the advent of development in information and communication technology, higher education institutions are turning their attention towards course offerings in the online mode With the plethora of opportunities that are available, challenges are also there and organizations are seeking to understand the perspective of the learners This paper attempts to study the perception of learners of value added courses that were offered to students Students perception towards certificate courses like Forex Management, Operations Research, Medical Law and Genetics, etc offered as add-on value added courses during the graduation through online mode were studied with regard to usability, user friendliness, navigation, assessment, feedback, course content, test friendliness etc Results show that students who opted for online learning felt optimistic about e-learning

Keywords: E-learning, Online Mode, Perception, Usability

Cite this Article: P Kalyanasundaram and Dr C Madhavi, Students’ Perception on

E-Learning With Regard To Online Value Added Courses, International Journal of Management (IJM), 11 (3), 2020, pp 89–96

http://www.iaeme.com/IJM/issues.asp?JType=IJM&VType=11&IType=3

1 INTRODUCTION

According to Drucker (1993) ICT pervades every dimension of our lives Among various other fields, education also experiences this trend By harnessing the potential of ICT we can positively impact the knowledge levels of students, which can result in elevation of their knowledge levels by imbibing them with skills and techniques to solve problems that require analytical and logical thinking that are required by the fierce corporate world Among the many beneficial impacts of ICT is the ability of it to hone critical reasoning among learners In many developed nations university education is offered even on a mobile phone and India too is not far behind and the impact is there to be witnessed The opening up of the economy and the access to the World Wide Web has thrown open a plethora of opportunities to learners The web has had an intense effect on the present day instruction situation and has changed the manner in which how innovation is utilized for instructive purposes

The higher education sector is undergoing a metamorphosis in terms of knowledge transfer and assessments Though online offerings have not found their way into the mainstream education in India, there had been a phenomenal change in the way Colleges and Universities are adopting online platforms and resources Changes will continue into the future and the use

of online technology is here to stay

India is in the midst of a technological revolution with ICT permeating every walk of life

It is a fact that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can ensure and expand the reach and quality of education in India Currently available online learning opportunities in India have their own challenges that are faced by higher education institutions that offer these opportunities and there is a need to understand learner perception on e-learning and the researcher discusses these in this paper This study is an attempt by the researcher to study the perception of students about online learning who underwent an online certificate course during their undergraduate study as a value-added program along with their regular course

2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The definition of e-learning as per Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

is the dynamic moving from non or trifle online presence to blended methods and lastly ending with totally on-line instruction embraced as a replacement to expert learning E-learning as it is currently called was first referenced by Jay Cross , CEO of e-learning Forum, a 1200 member research organization and support gathering, in 1998 As per Urdan and Weggen (2000), e-learning is the transaction, obviously, by means of electronic media, for example, web, intranets, extranets, satellite communicate, sound/video tape, intuitive TV and CD-ROM was viewed as e-learning

It is their inference that led to the thought that terms like Web-based, technology based and electronic learning are characterized and utilized distinctively by various associations and client groups

E-learning offers competitive advantages in many ways Whereas the traditional learning works on the premises that the instructor owns the knowledge that is passed on to the students, E-learning authenticates and facilitates the spread of knowledge Traditional learning suffers from “narration sickness”, but interactive web-based learning offers scope for the learner to learn in a participative learning environment where the focus is on ‘learning by doing’ While educating in a conventional set-up has its own confinements and a customary instructor can never give 24 x 7 guidance to learners, an e-learning set-up can offer support round the clock throughout the year

Fry (2001) is of the opinion that embracement of technology, for example e-learning, is basic so as to contend in advanced education industry all around and such vital approaches are useful in business and instructional practice advancements E-learning has its very own advantages, for example, it gives numerous possibilities to exchange ideas and information among the learners and the staff in many forms, including talks, discussion forums, and messages, which results in an inspired learning environment Eric Ansong et al (2016) in their study on determinants of e-learning adoption in Universities found factors like IT infrastructure, perceived ease of use, expected benefits, organizational compatibility, competitive pressure, educated partners, content of the course, E-learning curriculum and these were statistically significant Any online program should be evaluated on the basis of its learning outcomes by comparing it with a similar onsite program (Consolacion Fajardo, 2011)

3 METHODOLOGY OF STUDY

Sampling method was used to select respondents A sample of 120 students was considered for the study The objective of the study was to find out their perceptions towards online learning versus class room learning A structured questionnaire was used for the purpose of the study A

25 item instrument was used for this purpose 16 questions gathered data about perception statements favoring online learning and 9 questions collected data about perception statements expressing concern over online learning Jamovi software was used for the purpose of analyzing the data collected Students enrolled in the following programs were contacted for the purpose

of this study: 1 Bio-Informatics; 2 Medical Genetics; 3 Food and Wine Preparation; 4 Fashion Art and Accessories; 5 Operations Research and Media Management; 6 Animation and Multimedia; 7 Medical Law and Ethics; 8 Forex, Immigration and Tour Operations Management For offering the program the institution had tied-up with a private vendor for offering one year certificate program on the above mentioned subject areas The content was developed by the college and the online hosting and test administration was done by the vendor The assessment was done in three stages in the form of Initial Assessment Test a mid-term assessment called Module Test (MT) at the end of first year of graduation and a final assessment called Final Evaluation (FE) at the end of second year The students had the choice of opting or not opting for the course

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Data gathered was tabulated Out of 120 students surveyed 56 were female (46.7%) and 64 were male (53.3%) Jamovi Software was used for the purpose of analysis Responses were collected based on a 5-point scale A 25 item instrument using Likert Scale was designed A widely used measure to ascertain the internal consistency is the Cronbach’s Alpha The reliability of the instrument was measured using Cronbach’s alpha which was 0.764 It

is suggested that a minimum level of 7 and above is acceptable The calculated Cronbach alpha thus falls in the acceptable range With regard to the awareness about the online courses 71 students were completely aware about the online courses (59.2%) 40 (33.3%) students were somewhat aware and 9 students (7.5%) were not aware about the online courses Therefore we can say that awareness level about the online courses is good 101 (84.2%) out of 120 of students had enrolled for the online courses

Table 1: Students Enrolment for In-house Online Programs

Out of the enrolled students, 16 (15.8%) students have not completed the course by taking the test The course completion rates are pretty good at 85%

Table 2: Online Test Taken

A t-test was conducted to find out if there is any difference in the mean scores of students perception toward e-learning between the students (101) who underwent the online courses and the group of students (19) who did not pursue the online courses The mean score of students who took the course was 84.7525, SD=7.63205, SEM= 75942 The mean score of students who did not take the course was 74.2105, SD=4.82561, SEM=1.10707 An independent sample t-test yielded results that showed students in the Opted out group (M = 74.2105, SD = 4.82561) had significantly lower perception scores than students in the online study group (M = 84.7525,

SD = 7.63205), t(118) = 5.795, p < 05

Learner responses to five key items that relate to the online advantage along with six items that was related to learner engagement and ease of use in the data collection instrument were analyzed and the analysis is presented below in Table 3

Table 3: Item-wise Students Perception regarding Online Learning with reference to students’

preference of online over class room engagement and ease of use /learner engagement

Item Strongly

Agree % Agree %

No Opinion % Disagree %

Strongly Disagree % Total

Prefer

Online over

offline

14 13.9 52 51.5 19 18.8 16 15.8 0 0.0 101

Online is

modern 30 29.7 56 55.4 11 10.9 3 3.0 1 1.0 101 Need in

other areas 15 14.9 65 64.4 18 17.8 2 2.0 1 1.0 101 Time spent is

less 12 11.9 64 63.4 14 13.9 10 9.9 1 1.0 101 Immediate

feedback 31 30.7 59 58.4 10 9.9 1 1.0 0 0.0 101 Progress is

easily

monitored

18 17.8 64 63.4 16 15.8 2 2.0 1 1.0 101

Comfortable

to use 10 9.9 41 40.6 29 28.7 20 19.8 1 1.0 101 Convenient

for test

taking

20 19.8 53 52.5 22 21.8 5 5.0 1 1.0 101

Gives

positive

experience

15 14.9 56 55.4 24 23.8 6 5.9 0 0.0 101

Easy

assessment 17 16.8 65 64.4 15 14.9 3 3.0 1 1.0 101 Course is

engaging due

to

multimedia

20 19.8 51 50.5 25 24.8 4 4.0 1 1.0 101

As seen from the above Table 3, the overall perception of the course takers is positive towards e-learning With less than 10% opinions highlighting the drawbacks of e-learning, a majority

of the students who take online courses have a positive opinion about the benefits of e-learning The areas of improvement would be comfort in terms of use and time consumed where respondents opined that better multimedia content needs to be there in place and time spent online is no different than the off line mode

Table 3 also presents the opinion regarding learner engagement and motivation With regard to preference of online over off line, 16 respondents (15.8%) disagreed that online is better than offline offerings With regard to the learnability of the course covering multimedia content, feedback, navigation, course map, repeatability respondents recorded favorable opinions About 71 (70.3%) students agreed that the course was engaging due to multimedia content 71(70.3%) of respondents opined that the course gave positive experience 73 (72.3%) learners said online option was easy to taking tests 72(71.2%) of students said it was easy to monitor their learning progress Almost 90 (89.1%) liked the immediate feedback All the above findings vouch for the usability of the online courses

The course takers were given a CD ROM for reference in addition to the online access The satisfaction score for CD ROM content with regard to interactivity, multimedia, learning experience, feedback, and learning expectations was computed The mean score was 18.97 with

SD = 2.65

A Chi-Square test of independence was performed to examine the relationship between test takers and their usage/satisfaction with CD ROM

Table 4: Satisfaction of users with regard to CD ROM

Test Status Satisfied with CD

ROM

Not Satisfied with CD

The relationship was significant at p< 0.05 Χ2 (1, N=101) = 4.1279, p = 0.042183 Test

takers are better satisfied than those who do did take the test It shows that engagement is the key to satisfaction

5 SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

The above study covered a small segment of students who opted for the online courses and those who did not opt for the courses The completion rates are good (85%) However we need

to find the reasons for why 15% of the learners did not complete the course World over the completion rates for massive open online courses are very less hovering around 7% In this study the completion rates are good because these were paid courses and limited to one module

A study on compelling reasons to pursue and motivation to complete is essential in this context One should also note the need for rich multimedia content as required by the students Better content in the form of CD ROM etc should be provided Those respondents who opted out of the online courses do not have a favorable opinion about online programs To make them understand the benefits of online learning one may give them free access to some modules to give them a feel of online learning and its benefits Further studies on learning outcomes on practical courses like food and wine preparation, fashion arts and accessories may be conducted

to understand whether these skills are really mastered as these courses cannot be offered only

in online mode They need blended learning as compared to other theory courses that should include theory as well as practical instructions

REFERENCES

[1] Boateng, R., Mbrokoh, A., Boateng, L., Senya, P., & Ansong, E (2016) Determinants of

E-Learning Adoption among students of developing countries International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 33(4), 248-262

[2] Consolacion Fajardo (2011) Evaluation of Learning Outcomes in Undergraduate Onsite and

Online Accounting Courses The Journal of American Academy of Business, 17(1), 18-24 [3] Drucker, P.F (1993) Post-Capitalist Society, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford

[4] Palloff, RM and Pratt, K (2003) The Virtual Student: A Profile and Guide to Working with

Online Learners, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA

[5] Roy Clariana and Patricia Wallace (2002) Paper-based versus computer-based assessment:

key factors associated with the test mode effect British Journal of Educational Technology 33(5), 593-602

[6] Stephenson, J (Ed.) (2001) Teaching and Learning Online Pedagogies for New

Technologies Kogan Page, London

[7] Urdan, T.A and Weggen, C.C (2000), Corporate E-Learning: Exploring a New Frontier,

W.R Hambrecht & Co., San Francisco, CA

[8] Varian and Shapiro (1999) Information Rules – A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy

Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA

[9] Dr R.P Bajpai, Dr Kapil Singh Hada and Geetanjali Bajpai, Academic Libraries and

E-Learning: Initiative and Opportunities, Pune, India International Journal of Library & Information Science, 5(3), 2016, pp.159–165

[10] Obaida Alkhatib and Beenu Mago I, 2017, learning Management System: An Innovative

Approach to E-Learning International Journal of Information Technology & Management Information System 8(1), pp 1-6

[11] Yahya Al-Ashmoery, Rochdi Messoussi, Youness Chaabi and Raja Touahni, 2013,

Monitoring And Visualizing Students Tracking Data Online Learning Activities (Tracking

In E-Learning Platforms) Mvsa, International Journal of Information Technology & Management Information System (IJITMIS), Volume 4, Issue 3, September - December ,

pp 121-135

[12] Nathan D’Lima, Anirudh Prabhu, Jaison Joseph and Shamsuddin S Khan, 2013, Novel

Approach in E-Learning to Imbibe Environmental Awareness, International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology (IJCET), Volume 4, Issue 2, March – April , pp 166-171

[13] Tareq Saeed Ali Thabet and Dr N.V.Kalyankar, 2014, The Effect of E-Learning Approach

on Students’ Direct Achievement and Delayed Achievement in Fraction Math Course Level

5 At Yemen's Public Primary School, International Journal of Computer Engineering and Technology (IJCET), Volume 5, Issue 4, April, pp 73-85